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Hi Alan, thx for your comment. Let me give you an example and if you have a though that's be great:

1. Condos on Island: http://www.honoluluhi5.com/oahu-condos/
2. Condos in City: http://www.honoluluhi5.com/oahu/honolulu-condos/
3. Condos in Region: http://www.honoluluhi5.com/oahu/honolulu/metro-condos/

Properties on the result page for 3) are all in 2) and all properties within 2) is within 1). Furthermore, for each of those URL, the paginated pages (2 to n) are all different, since each property is different, so using canonical tags would not be accurate. 1 + 2 + 3 are all important keywords.

Here is what I am planning: add some unique content to the first page in the series for each of those URL and include just the 1st page in the serious to the index, but pages 2 to n I will keep "noindex, follow" on. Argument could be "your MLS result pages will look too thin and not rank" but the other way of looking at it is "with potentially 500 or more properties on each URL, a bit of stats on page 1 will not offset all the MLS duplicate data, so even though the page may look thin, only indexing page 1 is best way forward".

adding "nofollow" as well makes it even easier to get out of the index?

issue with having pages that are similar to pages on other websites is the ratio of unique vs duplicate content is low and that can drag down other more unique pages ranking. The pages I have without much unique content is what users want: http://www.honoluluhi5.com/oahu/honolulu/hawaii-kai-homes/ but since content isn't unique I - unfortunately - need to noindex those pages and instead rank for this type of page: http://www.honoluluhi5.com/hawaii-kai-homes-real-estate/

When a user is looking for "….for sale" type keyword they want that first URL. Not the 2nd URL with pictures and video and writing. The "noindex, follow" is on the 1st URL, but still indexed after 1 month. I want to get de-indexed and I am trying to establish the risk associated with using that GWT tool - based on the article where G seems to indicate one shouldn't so easily use that tool. Conclusion is probably I have to be patient and wait for G to noindex those pages of mine. I look forward to the day G's algorithm can see the layout of a page and understand the value for users, even though it lacks unique content….

I was planning to remove lots of URL's via GWT that are highly duplicate alike pages (similar pages exist on other websites across the web). However, this Google article had me a bit concerned: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/1269119?hl=en

I already have "noindex, follow" on the pages I want to remove from the index, but Google seems to take ages to remove pages from index, which appear to drag down unique content pages from my site.

lol - good answer Philip. I hear you. What makes it difficult is the lack of crystal clear guidelines from search engines....it is almost like they don't know themselves and each case is sort of on a "what feels right" basis.....

based on Google's own guidelines it appears to be a bad idea to use the removal tool under normal circumstances (which I believe my site falls under): https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/1269119

It starts with: "The URL removal tool is intended for pages that urgently need to be removed—for example, if they contain confidential data that was accidentally exposed. Using the tool for other purposes may cause problems for your site."

thx, Philip. Most helpful. I will get on it

for some MLS result pages I have a BUNCH of pages and I want to remove from index with 1 click as opposed to having to include each paginated page. Example: http://www.honoluluhi5.com/oahu/honolulu/metro/waikiki-condos/page-52 I simply include"/oahu/honolulu/metro/waikiki-condos/" and that will ALSO remove from index this page: http://www.honoluluhi5.com/oahu/honolulu/metro/waikiki-condos/page-52 - is that correct?

removing directory "/oahu/waianae-makaha-condos/" will NOT remove "/oahu/waianae-makaha/maili-condos/" because the silo "waianae-makaha" and "waianae-makaha-condos" are different.

HOWEVER,
removing directory " /oahu/waianae-makaha/maili-condos/" will remove "/oahu/waianae-makaha/maili-condos/page-2" because they share this silo "waianae-makaha"

Is that correctly understood?

so I will remove directory for "/oahu/waianae-makaha/maili-condos/" and that will ensure removal of "/oahu/waianae-makaha/maili-condos/page-2" as well?

thx, Philip. So you are saying if I use the directory option that will ensure the paginated pages will also be taken out of the index like this page: /oahu/waianae-makaha/maili-condos/page-2

thx. I have a URL like this for a REGION: http://www.honoluluhi5.com/oahu/waianae-makaha-condos/  and for a "NEIGHBORHOOD" I have this: http://www.honoluluhi5.com/oahu/waianae-makaha/maili-condos/

As you can see Region has "waianae-makaha-condos" directory, whereas the Neighborhood has "waianae-makaha" without the "condos" for that region directory part.

Question: when I go to GWT and remove can I simply type "oahu/waianae-makaha-condos" and select the directory option and that will ALSO exclude the neighborhood URL? OR, since the region part in the URL within the neighborhood URL is different I have to submit individually?

good one, Philip. Last BIG question: if I remove URL's from GWT, is it possible to "unremove" without issue? I am planning to index some of these MLS pages in the future when I have more unique content on.

thx, Donna. My question was mainly around whether Google will NOT consider MLS pages as duplicate content when I place the "noindex" on. We can all guess, but does anyone have anything concrete on this, to make me understand reality of this. Can we with 90% certainty say "yes, if you place noindex on a duplicate content page, then Google will not consider that duplicate content, hence it will not count towards how Google views duplicate vs unique site content". This is the big question: If we are left in uncertainty, then only way forward may be to password protect such pages and not offer users without creating an account.....

Removal on GWT: I plan to index some of these MLS pages in the future (when I get more unique content on them) and I am concerned if once submitted to GWT for removal, then it is tough to get such pages indexed again.

When "noindex" is added to a page, does this ensure Google does not count page as part of their analysis of unique vs duplicate content ratio on a website? Example: I have a real estate business and I have noindex on MLS pages. However, is there a chance that even though Google does not index these pages, Google will still see those pages and think "ah, these are duplicate MLS pages, we are going to let those pages drag down value of entire site and lower ranking of even the unique pages". I like to just use "noindex, follow" on those MLS pages, but would it be safer to add pages to robots.txt as well and that should - in theory - increase likelihood Google will not see such MLS pages as duplicate content on my website?

On another note: I had these MLS pages indexed and 3-4 weeks ago added "noindex, follow". However, still all indexed and no signs Google is noindexing yet.....

Hi Thomas,
Can you do me a favor and check if the "noindex, follow" tag are correct on these pages:
http://www.honoluluhi5.com/oahu/honolulu-condos/
http://www.honoluluhi5.com/no-address-condo-for-sale-201403347/

I do not know programming and I want to make sure my programmers have done it right. Around March 1st we put the tag on, but then March 7th I saw an increase in pages being indexed. It puzzled me Google would index MORE pages on a date AFTER we placed the "noindex, follow" on.

thx. Good way to approach it

if your "money page" has a theme and / or keywords users do indeed search for on search engines, then creatively working out a natural way to link more to such "money page" is a great idea. However, do not just place links that do not add user value. If you could have a little written blurb that actually makes sense like "Click here to get quotes" or something like that (try to get some anchor in once in a while too), it is a great way to manage it. However, if your "category" page is the keyword users search for on Google / Bing and where you think it is the realistic starting point to find your customers then you may wan to work on a strategy linking more to the category page. Do not link without purpose internally, but do certainly try to create a setup where it makes sense to link internally to your most valued pages.

Besides your breadcrumbs do not think in terms of just creating a system, which looks like a robot has created the internal linking structure. Be creative, but don't create a poor user experience.

1 weeks ago my website expanded with a lot more pages. I included "noindex, follow" on a lot of these new pages, but then 4 days ago I saw the nr of pages Google indexed increased. Should I expect in 2-3 weeks these pages will be properly noindexed and it may just be a delay? It is odd to me that a few days after including "noindex" on pages, that webmaster tools shows an increase in indexing - that the pages were indexed in other words. My website is relatively new and these new pages are not pages Google frequently indexes.

these pages' only unique content will be the dynamic statistical data. So I may have 100 different pages that all have:
Median Price
Nr of Properites Sold year 2013, 2012, 2011
$ Volume of Sold Properites year 2013, 2012
etc etc

Obviously $ and number amounts will be different for each neighborhood, but otherwise same writing and layout across many pages. I wonder if good enough, as just offering value to the users do not always seem to be all we should keep in mind, as I see many websites perform very well taking a simple approach writing a general blurb and nothing more.